Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said Saturday he's still trying to cope with the "bad dream" that was the Chicago White Sox's 2013 season and reiterated that Paul Konerko is welcome to come back if he so desire.
“It’s truly Paul’s option,” Reinsdorf told Ben Finfer and Bruce Levine of WSCR-AM 670. “He’s earned the right to come back if he wants to come back. He’s been the most popular player in the last 15 years that we’ve had. He’s only had a handful of at-bats in a Cincinnati uniform, so he’s basically a White Sox lifer. He’s a terrific teammate. He’s our captain. He just has to make a decision whether he wants to come back or not.”
Reinsdorf said the Sox's dismal 63-99 finish in 2013 was particularly painful to deal with because it was so unexpected after the White Sox were in the division race right down to the end in 2012.
“I don’t think I dealt with it,” Reinsdorf said. “I’m still trying to deal with it. I keep thinking maybe I’ll wake up and it was just a bad dream. It was an unexpected year. We’ve had years in the past where we weren’t good, but I always knew that we weren’t going to be good. … I thought we were going to be competitive last year with a decent chance to win the division. It caught me by surprise; it caught everybody by surprise.
"Losing is not fun. I know the fans don't like it, but they don't have to watch it every day. I have to watch it every day. I don't like watching bad teams."
Reinsdorf said he plans to remain in his role "as long as I have my health and I have my marbles." Asked whether the White Sox are shifting into rebuilding mode, Reinsdorf pointed to the signing of Cuban slugger Jose Abreu to a six-year, $68 million deal.